Football

Injal Bhattarai, Kathmandu A year ago Arsenal sacked Unai Emery because of his poor tactics and underperformance from a decent squad. Emery's tactics saw large gaps in midfield and toothless attacks in the last matches at Arsenal. He gave the impression of a manager who simply does not know how to fix the problems. The Spaniard used players out of position e.g Xhaka at LCB, Torreira as CAM/CM. He used the same tactics in every game and was so vulnerable that even teams that were bottom in the league dominated Arsenal and gave hard times. But now he is enjoying his reign at Villareal. Times have changed and the scenario at Arsenal too. Staff redundancy, player bust-ups, Covid-19, new major signings, Ozil’s exclusion have all happened in these last 8 months or so. But if he ...

Barcelona are set to welcome Italian champions Juventus to Camp Nou in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Both Barcelona and Juventus will be aiming to secure first place in Group G. Both sides have already booked their places in the last-16 stage of the competition. Barca has a three-point advantage over second-placed Juve. If Barca wants to confirm the top spot from Ronald Koeman's side on the final matchday, the Blaugrana has serious work to do. This season, Barca's Champions League form was exceptional. They have won all five of their Group G fixtures with an aggregate score of 16-2. And they look to comfortably book their place in the competition's knockout stage. The Catalan giants are very much in charge of the section's first place. They will only give Juve top spot...

Tottenham's Harry Kane scored his 250th goal for club and country on Sunday as Tottenham romped to a 2-0 win over city rivals Arsenal. Kane's goal also marked his 100th home goal and made him the top scorer in the derby in north London. In the 13th minute, Kane perfectly managed a Moussa Sissoko pass from a Spurs counter-attack. He found Son in the counter-attack as the South Korean unleashed a 20-yard shot into the net to put Spurs ahead. A minute into extra time at the end of the first-half, it was then Son's turn to provide an assist for Kane. Son kept the ball again with Arsenal trapped on the counter-attack. Kane emerged on his outer left and then slipped a pass to him. Kane then powered the ball from near range into the roof of the net. Partey couldn’t track Kane’s run as ...

Manchester United will be looking to book their place when they face RB Leipzig on Tuesday night in Germany. All Manchester United, PSG, and Leipzig are on 9 points in Group H. And with both Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain, these three teams will look to make it to the top 2. Before losing to French giants PSG, Leipzig impressively reached the semi-finals of last season's Champions League. But they are incredibly inexperienced at this level of football-actually playing in only their third group-stage campaign. Leipzig played an exciting 3-3 draw with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday. They will look to stop Manchester United and advance for the knockout round stages. Although a draw would also be enough if PSG lost to Basaksehir in the other match in the group. A...

Liverpool will play in front of their own fans for the first time since being crowned champions, as 2,000 supporters return against Wolves. Former wolves forward Diogo Jota will be hoping to get one over his former teammates. Jurgen Klopp's side head into the weekend with just a goal difference holding them off the top of the table. But with Chelsea's win taking them ahead, the Reds will be trying to get back to the top. If Wolves break the Reds' long unbeaten run at home, they could climb to within only one point of their opponents. The imperious record of Liverpool at home is one thing that has not changed in the absence of supporters. Their unbeaten streak now stands at 64 games. It’s the second-longest such run in English football history-although they have won 29 of their la...

On Saturday night, Cadiz pulled off a shock 2-1 victory over Barcelona in La Liga. Trouble has already been mounting troubles for the Catalans in their domestic campaign. The hosts took a shock lead in the 8th minute from a corner kick. Marc-Andre ter Stegen palmed the ball into the direction of Alvaro Gimenez. All he had to do was simply had to tap it into the net to make it 1-0. The goal seemed to enliven Barca, who for the remainder of the half were firmly in charge. Except for Martin Braithwaite's close miss, the visitors could not score and went into the half-time break trailing. Koeman rang the changes at half-time in an attempt to spark his team. Pedri replaced Oscar Mingueza and Ousmane Dembele came on for Philippe Coutinho. Messi played in Jordi Alba and his shot from a...

Tottenham will host Arsenal in one of the biggest derbies around the world; The North London Derby. Two thousand fans will be back for the match at the stadium for the first time since the restart. They will expect to see more misery inflicted on their out-of-form neighbors by their top-of-the-table Spurs side. Jose Mourinho's men currently enjoying the longest unbeaten streak in the Premier League. They have not lost since the opening day. However, the Gunners have plenty of their own issues to concentrate on. Arsenal supporters maybe dreading Sunday's short trip to Tottenham than they have lately had any other North London derby. Tottenham have won four points against Manchester City and Chelsea from their last two league games. This surely indicates that they might be able...

As fans make their return to the stadium, Stamford Bridge will see Leeds United play in front of 2,000 odd home fans. Chelsea and Leeds are facing off for the first time in league since May 2004. As a manager, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard already has a history against Leeds. He could add another chapter to that this weekend with victory sufficient to temporarily take his side top of the Premier League table. Lampard's managerial meetings with Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds always seem to be notable; Spygate to the Championship playoffs and now to the return of fans. Chelsea certainly look like more credible challengers now than they did earlier this season, which is largely down to their improvement in defence. Meanwhile Leeds have proven themselves more than capable of breaching the...

Manchester United is only one point away from securing the qualification spot. They’ll play last year's runners-up Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The Red Devils sit at the top of Group H while PSG sits second. Manchester United will travel to PSG having won the first leg 4-0. Following their rousing second-half revival against Southampton on Sunday, Solskjaer's side should also be full of confidence. Edinson Cavani, a former PSG player inspired the turnaround after coming off the bench to secure the winner. Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel's side squandered another lead on Saturday to ultimately draw 2-2 with Bordeaux. The result left the perennial champions now only two points clear at the top of Ligue 1. With Dean Henderson desperate for more minutes, Solskjaer coul...

Chelsea will take on Seville at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in a shootout for the top spot in Champions League Group E. Both sides have already qualified for the last 16 with two games to go. All emphasis is now on securing the top spot for the knockout rounds. Chelsea were forced to work hard by Rennes in the last CL game week. A late goal from substitute Olivier Giroud saw them pick up a 2-1 victory and a place in the last 16 with it. Since drawing 0-0 with Sevilla on the opening matchday, the Blues have now won three in a row in the competition. Sevilla, more accustomed to winning the Europa League, will fight for 5 games unbeaten streak under the UEFA flagship. Julen Lopetegui's men will definitely reach the game in good shape, most recently beating Huesca 1-0 to climb...